This was the first Harrier Grand Prix event of the season that I have attended and a good number of Harriers turned out to run the ‘fast flat course’ in North Yorkshire. My definition of flat appears to differ to that of race organisers – yes, it wasn’t hilly, but not what I would call flat. The race HQ was at Thirsk Racecourse and seemed to be well organised. There was plenty of parking and I didn’t have to queue for the loo – woo hoo!
It was a bright but windy day, the first few miles into a strong headwind and the later ones were wind assisted (which I needed). With over a thousand race entries, the start made for a crowded affair. It took a few miles to really get going, but it was a pleasant sight to see a long line of multi-coloured runners snaking along the country lanes. The course contained an out and back section, which seemed to last forever. I was relieved when I was finally on the main road heading back to the racecourse, blissfully unaware that Pete King was slowly reeling me in. The finish area was awash with yellow t-shirts from the event, but I didn’t hang round for long – that wind was cold!
I entered this race wistfully hoping for a PB, which didn’t happen. I really struggled during the run and was pleased when it was over. I later had to abandon my shopping plans and curl up on the living room floor with stomach cramps and sickness, not how I normally spend race days.
Some good results from the Harriers, particularly Clair Walker and her doppelganger.
This
could be a long read,
so grab a coffee or tea and make yourself comfortable. This year the
race was shortened slightly to coincide with the 50th
Anniversary of The Cleveland Way and 10th
Anniversary of the running of this event.
The
route of the run went from North to South, Guisborough to Helmsley
via Roseberry Topping (up and over it twice!) This proved to make
this race extremely difficult due to the direction of the run. Whilst
the run was as long as it was difficult, the biggest factor was the
weather. This proved to be the undoing of a lot of combatants; I
don’t use this word lightly, because it was a battle out there
between the elements and sheer willpower. During this Race Rundown, I
will attempt to, not just describe the miles I crossed, but to try
and convey what was going on inside my head at the time.
Friday
night before the race, full of hope and optimism, I packed my race
gear, a lot of essential kit to carry on an
ultra. I packed two drop bags, with extra gels and Haribo for Drop 1
at Kildale, and ham and pickle sarnies and pork pies for Drop 2 at
Osmotherley. All set, good to go, early night then race day! No
matter what race it is, I love race day, the excitement of what’s
about to unfold, the uncertainty of how it will go, the buzz of
anticipation from all the runners, its palpable.
It
was raining on the morning, but did not dampen anybody’s spirits,
well, not yet anyway. The race was under way 15 minutes late, after
registration and everyone had to have a tracker taped to their race
vest.
The
first couple of miles were uphill, no surprise there, and across to
the Tees Link, which was a vertical mud-bath climb straight to
Highcliff Nab. This was relentless, but weather wise, shielded from
the wind was not too bad. Once we got to the top and a few hundred
yards later the wind came into its own just as Roseberry Topping came
into view, in all its rugged splendour. Runners were already
streaming down one side of Roseberry and on to Captain Cook’s
Monument before I even made the first climb over it. Once up and
over, we turned around and did it again then on our merry way. The
wind was horrific, almost catching people off balance, this was set
in for the day. After 5 miles the first of the retirements were
logged.
Between
mile 5 and 10, I was not in a good place. The sheer difficulty of the
climb with wind, and rain combined got me thinking about the next 40
miles. My legs were stiff, knees with a niggle I have had on and off
for a long time, Kildale seemed an easy decision to call it a day!
Gutted!
On
the approach to Kildale I started running a little more freely, maybe
it wasn’t gonna end here after all. I was of course soaking wet,
but not cold, benefits of carrying a few extra pounds I suppose. My
inner Andy told me, get inside, hot drink, grab your dropbag and go.
The problem with staying too long in warm indoor checkpoints is the
fact that it’s warm and indoors!! So I decided to have a go to the
next check point, up and over Bloworth Crossing to Clay Bank. It was
10 miles. I had arrived at Kildale 45 minutes ahead of cut off, so to
have a go and carry on was my decision, based on the fact that if I
ran every now and again my legs and knees loosened up and felt
better. Off we go.
10
miles crossing Bloworth I started thinking about the next big cut off
point at Osmotherley, which was a further 10 miles away and included
the 3 Sisters. I had until 6.00pm to do another 20 miles. There was a
small group of us traversing Bloworth together, not a lot of
conversation, driving rain coming at you sideways and wind gusting up
to 45mph took all of our concentration. We leap-frogged each other
(not literally tho! Lol! ) on that 10 mile stretch. Each time a
faster person went past, words of encouragement were given…” nice
one, keep it up” … “ well done, looking strong” and other
short words of motivation. The runner would then stop and walk a
while, others picked up the proverbial baton and it was their turn to
stretch their legs….This went on for what seemed like an eternity,
but in reality, 3 hours. Bloworth is bleak on a Summer day, never
mind on a day like this. But all I could think of was making Clay
Bank and evaluate my mind and body as to carrying on or calling it a
day.
Approaching
Clay Bank the 3 Sisters loomed in the distance, looking bleak and
menacing. Its only 3 hills, up an over, up and over and you’ve
guessed it, up and over again. I have done this section probably a
dozen times, and to be fair, its one of my favourite places. Once I
dropped into Clay Bank my mind was more or less made up to carry on.
A lot of bodies called it a day at that point, not wanting to go any
further. And who could blame them, 20 miles of being battered has
taken its toll. Inner Andy told me “its not gonna end here is it?
C’mon ya big Jessie, fill your bottles grab some Jaffa cakes and
go!!” I would not have forgiven myself if I didn’t at least
climb the next stage to Lordstones. In hindsight, Inner Andy would
have being right. I had to carry on. At our amazing club at
Sedgefield, I seem to have a name for liking the hills and doing
reasonably well at them for a big lad. I’m not the quickest or
strongest on the flat but you just have to embrace the hills, grit
your teeth and grind them out. So basically I carried on, with Inner
Andy and The Harriers in my mind, Wainstones 3 Sisters were smashed
and dedicated to our Club & members.
I
could always stop at Lordstones Café, if I was in no shape to carry
on further, call my wife to collect my body from there, while I could
have had a nice pint of Guinness. Mmm more internal dialogue.
To
reach Osmotherley from Lordstones I had 8 miles and 2 and a half
hours to cut off at 6.00pm. I was by now moving slowly so it was
going to be tight on time. I discounted stopping at Lordstones and
carried on. My reasoning being, Osmotherley is easier to get to for
my wife and more importantly I had pork pies there! And waiting
about, for an hour in wet clothes would not have being fun. So while
I was still mobile, albeit wet but not cold I went onwards.
Friends
of mine caught me up on the run in to Osmotherley, it was a nice
distraction to chat and have a bit of banter with them, they
eventually pushed on after a few miles to try and beat cut off time.
I was moving slower. I knew my race was over. I made peace with Inner
Andy, had an epiphany 4 miles out from Osmotherley, and looked back
on the previous 9 hours and realised what I have just done in the
bleakest of conditions. I was pleased with myself for giving it a
proper go, no regrets, 30 miles in the bag and lots of memories.
I
made the call to my wife to meet me in the village hall. I was not
upset by this, or even subdued like I was at the first attempt and
being timed out 3 years ago. It was the correct decision. Whilst I
was wet all day, I was never cold. But as daylight faded, the
temperature dropped, so for me to carry on would not have ended well.
My friends missed cut off by 6 minutes, I was disappointed for them.
I trundled in at 6.24pm happy in the knowledge I had given it a
proper go, my wife was already there 10 minutes before me. So the day
ended with coffee and pork pies, warm dry clothes and a bag of chips
from around the corner. The last half mile all I could smell was fish
and chips!! And they were lovely!!
Lessons
learned today were, some kit worked better than others, but only a
small portion of runners managed to stay dry. All sorts of big name
jackets eventually failed the weather test we had, quite a few, me
included were soaked after the first 3 hours. The weather made this
an extremely unpredictable and difficult race for an unsupported
runner like myself and many others. But the race is designed that
way, to be run in one go by oneself. Even supported runners dropped
out. Some guys on the race said it was the worst conditions they have
encounted, and a few of them ran last year when The Beast from the
East hit the race.
Will
I run this next year? Of course I will, it’s one of my favourite
races in the calendar.
My
run by the numbers, I do love a good bit of data:
Distance
– 30.5 miles
Ascent
– 8855 ft – 5 hrs 27mins of climbing
Descent
– 8688 ft – 4 hrs 34mins
Heart
rate average for 10 hours – 132bpm
&
2 pork pies
A
couple of items of kit I had are note worthy of a mention:
Runderware
anti-blister, double layered ankle sock – feet were wet all day,
but no chaffing or blisters and very comfortable. Feet were as good
as when I started, NO HOBBIT FEET HERE!
Lanacane
anti-chafing cream – one application all day, no issues at all,
nuff said!
Base
layer, Under Armour Cold Gear – I may have been wet because of the
extreme conditions but I was never cold.
Suunto
Ambit 3 Peak – Battery life amazing, only used 37% in over 10
hours of use, and I was wearing a bluetooth chest heart-rate strap.
Thank you for
reading my race rundown, at the time of writing, the full set of race
results have yet to be published but will appear on the Hardmoors
website. The winner did finish in 8 hrs 19 mins.
Tommy
Cooper summed me up well when he lamented “I used to be indecisive
but now I am not quite sure”. The RunFit Hartlepool 5k Trail
pre-race literature stating “Entries close at 9.30am on the day of
the race” was both blessing and curse.
Unable
to decide between the above race or 10 miles of Big Stu’s 8am
fields of mud I decided to let my body clock decide my fate. A 7.48am
awakening meant my decision was all but made for me; a trip to the
motherland was in store.
As
always, I left home in plenty of time, only to be scuppered by a
journey that was blighted by more red lights than Roxanne’s.
09.29
– I’m in – runner 821, a number somewhat high given the 104
entrants.
U
naccustomed
to arriving so early, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself,
so, given my aching limbs from yesterday’s lope to Cowpen Bewley,
coupled with the somewhat sub-Saharan temperatures of the north east
coastline an all too rare warm-up was on the cards.
As
10am beckoned, we left our shelter of the village hall in varying
degrees of undress; a last minute decision to deglove from me.
“READY…GO”.
A
start to match the organiser’s humble persona: unfussy;
understated, unlike his RunFit posse’s hoodies with their lurid,
Stabilo Boss-esque tangerine hue.
I
underestimated the cold today and struggled to run with this load to
warm. The North Sea air wicked heat away faster than my body could
replace it. It wasn’t a pleasant coldness but it was the kind that
made you try to run faster and brace your head against the wind. No
matter how warm the blood in your veins, your face got frozen just
the same.
“Where
are my gloves? Anything for one of those hoodies!” Puddles galore.
Cold water seeps into my shoes, stealing the heat from my soles just
as fast as the wind steals from my face. For this short blast up
Butts Lane, the icy wind and the freezing puddles are my nemesis.
Suddenly, good news; the uphill stretch is over. Surely it’s all
downhill from here. For now, at least, it is.
I’m
one of three out front. Down Dolly Lane, a fast stretch – more folly,
insane. As the veritable ‘coaster ends, we rise again toward
Nesbitt Hall. The cold now forgotten as my lungs scream like an
asthmatic fish out of water. Sod the gloves, “inhaler please,
marshal!” The good news… three has become two.
Hall
hill complete. A sharp right into a field. Stuart’s Sunday sessions
should stand me in good stead. Another right-hander and it’s onto
the steep descent of Nesbitt Dene. Underfoot it’s more slippery
than a well-known Ceddesfeld politician covered in Iraqi oil. More
good news comes from the shoes. My ‘trails’ bite the ground like
a puppy’s incisors. My opponents road shoes cannot cope. As we
cross Bellows Burn, finally, daylight. The hapless Hartlepool Harrier
hindered. Hope.
An
unfamiliar position. I’m about as used to winning as Theresa May in
a Common’s Brexit vote.
More
up. Steep steps, we egress, back to Butts. Keep going. KEEP GOING!
Home
stretch, down to the ‘Old Monk’s’ finish funnel. Time to open
up. Time to
replace
last year’s silver with gold. KEEP GOING!!!
Victory.
It
tastes so sweet. The post-race cocktail of Lucozade, digestives and
jelly babies was followed by a soupçon of umami from the oven-warmed
pies. Quite a spread.
It
is, however, “not the quantity of the meat, but the cheerfulness of
the guests, which makes the feast”. Joyous faces abound in the Hart
Village Hall, all revelling in their own small victory against a
spiky little course.
I
say “little”, but at 5.9km it’s rather a long ‘5k’!
This
race was a metrological and meteorological disaster, but in Andrew
Lilley, RunFit Hartlepool have a true leader, a man on a mission, a
man with a plan to improve the mental and physical health of his
orange army through running and other sporting activities. Whilst his
tape measure may have failed him, his organisational and
inspirational skills are second to none.
Much like me in Dent, my race report is coming in a little later than I had hoped.
It started off as a very windy day as Tracy and I got ready to make the journey over to Dent in Cumbria. For those who don’t know Dent, it is a little village in Dentdale valley just west of the Pennines. The race itself is all on road and is a figure eight style route with Dent in the centre, with a choice of 14 mile or 8 mile races. On this occasion I had entered the 14 mile race and Tracy the 8 mile.
As we travelled over, the weather looked grim with lots of snow on the hills, but luckily as we got into the valley the snow eased off and was replaced with wind and rain.
By the time the race started the weather wasn’t too bad, but the course was very wet.
The race raises money for the local school and has a very community feel to it, which I personally really like. You are made to feel very welcome and at the finish you are served afternoon tea in the school hall.
It’s a hilly course, which the elevation profile above shows (the 14 mile route is the 8 mile route plus an additional 6). My pace overlay shows the location of two of the water stations!
The
final cross country race of the season and the moment of truth for
the Senior Men’s team. A strong performance and favourable result
and we might just avoid relegation to Division 3.
My
race day preparation was as meticulous as ever, the long drive to
Alnwick required an early start to allow time to acclimatise to the
race environment. At 1.35pm I arrived at Alnwick Gardens and used the
opportunity to race from there to the Harriers Tent in time for my
race 15 minutes later as my warm up! Nothing like getting the
adrenaline pumping! I opted to wear trail shoes, not because the
course was dry with a gravel/hardcore twist but because I forget to
pack my spikes!
Harriers
converged as close to the start line to gain an advantage, especially
over our challengers for Division 2 status – Low Fell & Saltwell.
Facing
the impressive Alnwick Castle, the gun signalled the start of an
undulating 10 km course, sweeping down along the banks of the River
Aln before climbing the pasture and startling the grazing sheep. Then
the route meandered towards the canopy of the woodland trails before
descending down a steep grass hill peppered with natural obstacles of
mole hills and large tufts of grass before passing by the large
gathering of vocal supporters at the Start/Finish section.
Only
2 more laps of the same to go!!
Mark
Raine made a strong start leading the Harriers charge. I had him in
my sights for about 700 metres before my focus shifted to a Saltwell
Harrier running alongside me. We traded positions temporarily before
he got bored and ran ahead. The challenges of the undulating course
took a slight toll on me during the 2nd
lap. A minor stitch began to emerge, not sure if this was due to the
2 Mars bars I consumed en-route to Alnwick! Mind over matter was the
order of the day; there was job to be done and our status in Division
2 to maintain.
I
tried to use the course to my running advantage, gazelle-like running
on the downward trails; trying to regulate my breathing on the flat
sections and having enough energy to push strongly on the uphill
climbs. The roar of the crowd was continually a source of welcome
encouragement and motivation also, especially when I could hear my
name shouted out. My only concern was that my eager Labrador, Luna,
would break free from the control of my partner Lisa and get a better
PB than me or go for a swim in the river!
Further
words of encouragement were offered by David Bentley, David Walker
and Chris Lines as they glided past me as if mounted on Harry
Potter’s firebolt brooms. In order to conserve my energy I think I
offered each of them a breathless grunt!
The
final run through the forest and decent towards the finish line
focused my mind on those ahead of me and how I could overtake them
while ensuring I didn’t twist my ankle on the undulating ground.
Into
the home straight and I had a Saltwell Harrier within my sights but
with a decent advantage on me. Game on! He weaved right and my
opportunity to gain ground on him was cut off by other runners. I ran
to the left, undercutting those ahead of me and having just enough
energy to sprint to the finish line just ahead of the Saltwell
Harrier and Ray Carmichael who was galloping closely in behind me.
The
end of another Cross Country season and sadly despite all the
fantastic efforts of the senior men’s team since last September,
relegation to Division 3 was confirmed even before our team tent was
taken down!
Onwards
and hopefully upwards for next season. For any Harriers who have not
yet experienced Cross Country running, I would encourage you to give
it go, you will be pleasantly surprised by the camaraderie it
generates. The locations are varied in their terrain and scenery
with a wealth of running challenges presented, the support from
spectators and marshals is fantastic and this season the weather has
been surprisingly warm so hopefully normal wintry conditions will be
prevail for 2019/2020.
Sunday
3rd February 2019 …… North East Marathon Club Winter Wonder at
Leazes Park, Newcastle…..#“Training run in mind”….. The day
started fairly early as I was picking up fellow Harriers Justin Cox
and Gary Thwaites on the way …. Alarm went off around 6.10 am, up
and ready…. Quick breakfast, porridge with blueberries, Mmm , and a
nice coffee… A good start for a marathon run ???? (So they say).
To
start…. it was minus eight outside! A quick clean of the windows
and headed off, heating on and seats warming up, perfect…. The
roads weren’t great but made good time picking the boys up and got
there right on time as we didn’t want to be hanging about on a
morning that was….. COLD !!! We parked the car and had a little
walk to the park, talking about the usual stuff… what was ahead and
what runs we’ve been doing, aches and pains, and of course, when
you go with Gary, food !!!!! Got to the park and registered and met
the other runners taking part.
T
he
Marathon Club has a very laid back feel and very friendly which is
great, no pressure, just enjoyment. The course looked very icy in
places but with our sensible heads on it was runnable. At the
briefing there was a presentation of a 100 Marathon vest for Helen
Schofield, which is some achievement – Well done Helen. After all
the safety talk and being told it wasn’t a race or PB weather we
were off, bang on 9am!!!!
Nice
and slow for the first few laps just to see where the feet needed to
be heading around the park. It would take sixteen laps if you were to
run the full distance…. 26.2, or you could run more, as you had six
hours. The park was lovely to run around, it had a few hills but
these added to the enjoyment…..1.6 miles per lap, which I found was
great to forget about the mileage and just count the laps ……But
as I said, no pressure with these winter wonders, one can run as far
as one would like – a lot use them as great training runs, myself
included. My plan was to run eighteen miles…. After three laps I
had to stop for a gentleman stop….. but I won’t go in to that!!!
Getting back to it was fine but I didn’t want to leave the warmth
of the building…..
After
a while I got carried away (I blame the blueberries…..) Feeling
good at eighteen miles I pushed on, another three miles or two laps.
Still feeling ok, I thought why not just run the full distance……
The course started getting better as the day went on and the sun came
out. Seeing other runners along the way giving each other encouraging
words helped the laps disappear. Justin Cox out in front looking good
with Gary Thwaites pushing on in third place, great stuff, and Ben
Swales running great too. You do meet a lot of new people along the
way at all these events and over the years at other events too. Nice
seeing people again.
So
back to the run. All good. I mainly ran by myself for most of it at a
nice steady safe pace. I did tag onto Melanie Horan, the marathon
club secretary and had a little chat…. til she pulled away up the
hills going on to completing her 94th marathon!!!!!! With only two
laps to go, legs feeling heavy !!! I had my number taken for the
records – four laps – which gave me a little scare as they had missed
a lap. But my watch came to the rescue with the mileage on show
“phew”?….
This is when I spotted Mr Justin Cox at the cafe with a big cup of
coffee!!!! ‘Go on Ray only two laps to go !!!!!!!’ Cheers ……
COXY. Then Gary shouted ‘I’ve got you some chocolate cake !!!!’
Nice one…. Gazza. With that running through my head I pushed on
with only one more lap to go !!!
Well
as I said, all was great, when I saw Melanie ahead and pushed to
catch her up … And I did til I hit the bottom of the hill for the
last time and BANG!!!!! Left leg cramped up big time!!! Felt sorry
for myself thinking I should have stuck to my training plan miles???
After a little stretch, I power walked up the hill… which sometimes
is just as quick..???? At the top a gentleman shouted ‘Don’t push
it there’s always another race to WIN!!!’ Win, I thought ??
I’m just training…. I’m sure he was just encouraging me…. I
set off again, a nice downhill section which helped the tired old
legs… once back at it only a little way to go, felt great to
complete the distance which I didn’t think I would be doing that
morning.
Had
a nice warmly welcome in by all…… and after receiving my medal
and socks, crisps and chocolate bar, things looked up … it was in
the bag …. Jackpot: 26.67 miles. Plus this was my first official
marathon as a new member to the marathon club. Then Gary passed the
chocolate cake to me… magic, just what I needed… BUT a coffee
would have been nice too Justin Cox ?!
Well done Gary on completing your 88th marathon, they’re starting
to rack up now….. Nice seeing Peter and Debbie King having a walk
around the park too. Thanks for the pics.
The
“true” heroes of the day were all the volunteers and marshals for
standing in those cold conditions. These events wouldn’t happen if
we didn’t have volunteers… Thanks again. Once warmed up we
watched a few in…. We made our way back to the car…… As
promised while driving up, as “ALL” good athletes, we carb’d
back up at the Golden Arches !!!!!!… ( #McDonald’s) …. A steady
drive back, dropping the boys off and wished them well . I then
headed back to a nice hot bath which was made ready by my
understanding wife of a runner ???? .
After
a lovely bath and little stretch it was time to carb back up “full
time” with this !!! (Parmo!) It will take another marathon or two
to burn this off !!!!!
To me these run events have helped put the miles in while training for other marathons etc , which helps when needing to find long runs in the winter months. If anybody’s looking at moving the miles up, they are great and a good price too. Have a look on their website…. http://northeastmarathonclub.co.uk
A
great day had by all, thanks everybody…… See you all at the next
event.
2019 Leas Marathon, around South Shields and Souter lighthouse. The course is mainly on gravel coastal paths with some gentle inclines. It can be tough if it’s windy, but we had perfect running conditions today. I travelled and ran with Ray and we saw Ben Swales on the course too. I haven’t seen any results yet so I’m not sure how Sedgefield Harriers faired on the day.
I really enjoy North East Marathon club events. No massive nightmare getting to the start line and the relaxed atmosphere is always welcome. Ray picked me up and we headed up the coast. As usual the conversation turned to food. It was the AGM that day too so there would be a buffet! Back-up would be a Big Mac Grande and a Twix McFlurry. The buffet was great so no trip to the golden arches was needed.
The weather was fine in Wingate, but the fog was so thick in South Shields you couldn’t see more than 50 meters in front of you! We found the tent, picked up our numbers and got ourselves ready to run. It was a staggered start, so Ray and I started on our own. No race briefing or anything like that, just turn up and run. Ray and I decided to run together. It’s great to have company and miles seem to pass much quicker when chatting. Basically, I talk about food for a few hours with a bit of cross county, football and other running chat too, but it’s mainly food.
The thick fog made it hard to stay on track during the first lap and we took a few wrong turns. Maybe I shouldn’t blame the fog… I have run this marathon a few times and always get the route wrong. Nothing major and the distance still adds up to marathon distance. We even followed fellow marathon clubber Paul Blakey thinking he knew the course, but he went wrong too. No harm done and we quickly got back on track. The fog made everything wet too! You could see dew on runners’ hats, my feet got wet and I could even feel water on my eye lashes. The route was basically two out and backs with a little loop at each end. You did these 4 times, so you kept bumping into other runners throughout the whole event. I love this type of event when it’s a small field of runners.
I wasn’t sure if I drank too much water or my compression gear was too tight, but I kept needing the toilet. Luckily you ran past public toilets so I didn’t have to wait too long before I could go again.
The run was going well, we ran well together and pretty much chatted for the whole run. The sun made an appearance too and we were treated to a beautiful sunny afternoon in South Shields. We could see a warship just out to sea which was pretty cool. I started looking at my watch and could see a sub 4 marathon was achievable if we kept moving at a reasonable pace, but I kept needing to pee and Ray needed to stretch to keep cramp at bay so it would be close. We did manage to just sneak under 4 hours so that was great.
After the run we made our way to the AGM. This is a great time to chat and catch up with everyone plus take care of club business. Peter King came to the AGM so four Harriers in total at the event. The food was great! A simple but lovely fish and chip buffet with pasta for vegetarians and vegans. I love fish and chips, but never eat it so this was a proper treat for me.
Everyone received a Marathon Club travel mug as a surprise gift! This was a really nice touch, and everyone seemed pretty chuffed with it. After that we said our goodbyes and headed home. It was a long, but very enjoyable day out at the seaside.
All in all, a great day out catching up with running friends and another step closer to completing my 100th marathon. Thanks to Razza for the lift and the company and everyone at NEMC who helped put on another great event.
Sixteen
of us arrived in a sunny Helmsley by train, car, bike and on foot for
the annual training weekend. A combination of seasoned Mount Hooley
attendees and first timers, the group was pleased to find a
comfortable youth hostel on the edge of Helmsley, well equipped, warm
and quiet.
As Chris and I had arrived just in time for dinner last year, we made an effort to get there earlier and took the afternoon off work. Chris cycled down from Greatham and I drove down arriving about 3pm. I thought training had better get under way, so I had a quick look at google maps and headed out of the village on the Cleveland Way towards Riveaulx. A tarmac path soon turned into a field edge path and then a wonderful up and down route through woods. Once I reached the road I doubled back, clocking up 5.5 miles. A great start to the weekend. We all went to The Feathers for an evening meal. I was the only one to have a pudding (dark chocolate and orange brownie, with white chocolate sauce and ice cream, in case your’re wondering) but I was the only one who had done any running!
Saturday morning started with a ‘pacey’ run. With Tracy as our leader, we headed out of the village for a 6 mile loop . A beautiful still morning we saw roe deer and lots of pheasants. A steep hill slowed the pace and the challenge of hill reps was politely declined. Nice try Tracy! Once we got back to the youth hostel Mil and John headed off for another 30 minutes, getting the prize for ‘commitment to training’.
Once we had showered and refuelled the majority of us set off for a walk, taking full advantage of the glorious countryside that surrounds Helmsley. We covered 7.5 miles across fields and through woods. Normally at training we may only have chance to have a quick chat to fellow Harriers, so this was a great opportunity to talk to people. John (Marshall) is a keen bird watcher so could help us identify various birds including magnificent buzzards, waiting to pick off any weaker members of the group.
In
the evening a number of the group headed off to the Brewery to watch
the rugby and then everyone refuelled – some getting takeaways and
some having home cooked food. Mike (Wood) won the prize for
‘commitment to eating’, managing to consume a family steak and ale
pie from the artisan bakers. The men then settled in for an evening
of poker and whiskey drinking – luckily playing for chips not coins.
Sunday
dawned sunny again. Another walk was planned but three of us headed
off – Phil to Wem-ber-ley (a football match, which apparently the
right team won on penalties); Chris cycling 50 miles home; and I
headed off to Stockton to run in the Winter Trail Series as part of
the Grand Prix. All in all the weekend was great fun with great
company.
And
the final prize for ‘commitment’ goes to Sue (Round) for her
unwavering ‘commitment to shopping’. She set off before us and came
back after us – who knew there were that many shops in Helmsley?
Don’t worry Sue, there will be another pair of bargain Gabor blue
shoes.
I
decided about 5 weeks ago to give this run ago. As I am fairly
new to the Sedgefield Harriers family I thought that a 5k race would
be nice for a change (short).
I
am a keen gym member and go most mornings when everybody is still in
bed (it’s the only time I get to do it). I normally do
weights a couple of days and a couple of classes as well. Four
weeks ago doing star jumps!! I rolled over on my ankle which has
resulted in me not running. My husband Richy says I have done
nothing but twist as I have not been out running, so I have just been
walking the dogs instead.
Anyway,
enough twisting. The journey to the race was very easy to find
and well described on the actual race page. There were loads of
parking places and as usual I had a panic on thinking that I was
going to be late, however we had plenty of time for at least 4 toilet
visits (ha ha this is normal). I always get really nervous
before a race even though I have been running for a couple of years.
The registration was straightforward and easy as my details were
already listed and there was no queue. I like this time of the
event as I like to talk to different people to get their feedback on
the race and also check out how many fit people are about!!
There
was a slight nip in the air, however I was brave enough to just put a
t-shirt under my Harriers vest instead of a long sleeve top. Again
this is something I always do before a run, I put too many layers on,
and Jane Spink rocks on up in a vest and shorts. It was lovely to see
so many Harriers at the start and made my nerves drop a little bit.
In fact I think we had the majority of runners for a specific
club. I got talking to Stuart who was giving me the run-down of the
race. He did say that there was one slight hill and
unfortunately you have to tackle this twice. Apart from that it was a
nice race. Bingo!
I
am not sure what is worse, knowing the route or not knowing the
route?
The
first mile into the race and I felt good, no niggles, so far so good.
If you closed your eyes for just 1 second (only kidding I
didn’t do this really) you would have thought it was a summer’s
day i
n
July; nope it was 24th
February. Fantastic weather. Anyway back to the race, we
tapered off in to the woods and it wasn’t too muddy and was well
marshalled throughout.
Coming
in for the final stretch and yes I knew what was coming, the final
hill, However I seemed to attack it as I knew the finishing line was
just straight after and downhill. I finished the race in 24 minutes,
well that’s what my Fitbit says. Very pleased with my time
especially with my ankle not being 100%.
A
very well organised and friendly race and pleased I took part and
will definitely do it again. I look forward to people updating
Facebook with future runs just so that I know what to enter next
please.
I
t
turned out to be a lovely day, however I had three layers of clothes
on as I am normally cold. I also had 3/4 length leggings and so went
to buy some shorts at one of the stalls. However they only had little
tiny ones. I said, I like my backside covered up thank you! Everyone
at the stall was laughing.
I
got to the start line where you were guided to pens with numbers on
where you had to stand and everyone was spread out along the field.
It was a brilliant sight to see all the ladies in a line at the
start. The gun went and everyone charged to the middle. With 1034
ladies charging up the hill you got a bit stuck at times with arms,
legs and uneven ground to contend with. It was a very warm day and
quite a few ladies pulled out, it was very tempting; however I was
very determined to finish.
T
here
was a slight wind which was nice to cool off, a few inclines and two
lovely down hills. No mud either to my delight as running round
fields is not my favourite racing. It was supposed to be a training
run (ha ha) however I did have a good race as I was two and a half
minutes quicker than last year (maybe not that fast at 40.10 for the
5 miles and placed 492nd).
It was a very friendly atmosphere but I was the only lady Harrier
running.
Do
I love cross country racing? No, but it’s good training… x
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was the first Harrier Grand Prix event of the season that I have attended and a good number of Harriers turned out to run the ‘fast flat course’ in North Yorkshire. My definition of flat appears to differ to that of race organisers – yes, it wasn’t hilly, but not what I would call flat. The race HQ was at Thirsk Racecourse and seemed to be well organised. There was plenty of parking and I didn’t have to queue for the loo – woo hoo!
which I needed). With over a thousand race entries, the start made for a crowded affair. It took a few miles to really get going, but it was a pleasant sight to see a long line of multi-coloured runners snaking along the country lanes. The course contained an out and back section, which seemed to last forever. I was relieved when I was finally on the main road heading back to the racecourse, blissfully unaware that Pete King was slowly reeling me in. The finish area was awash with yellow t-shirts from the event, but I didn’t hang round for long – that wind was cold!
I entered this race wistfully hoping for a PB, which didn’t happen. I really struggled during the run and was pleased when it was over. I later had to abandon my shopping plans and curl up on the living room floor with stomach cramps and sickness, not how I normally spend race days.
Much like me in Dent, my race report is coming in a little later than I had hoped.
Steve:
Unlike previous years, no other Sedgefield Harriers made the journey over.
